Thursday 3 May 2012

Leftovers Pt. 3

Here we go.....

Meal three with just one Roast Dinner.

Not bad for a family of seven.

How are your efforts going at using what is in your fridge & using leftovers?

It feels good to reduce the waste I think.

And who wouldn't like to reduce the amount of time they are at the shops?

It is a SUPER cold and VERY wet day in Melbourne today.

A perfect excuse to bake a pie!


GOURMET GIRLFRIEND'S LEFTOVER LAMB ROAST SHEPHERD'S PIE:
A few days ago I made a Lamb roast.  
I ordered my Lamb direct from the farmer- delivered to my door by her
AMAZING!
Gorgeous Organic free-range Dorper lamb.
Go here if you are in Victoria and would like to join Anna's email subscription list. 
You all know I like to know where my food comes from! Provenance is important to me.
This meal uses the leftover Lamb that I roasted.
This same meal's leftovers also made Roast veg Frittata with the leftover Veg.
So that is THREE meals for our family of SEVEN with just ONE leg of lamb!
Not bad.
Shepherds Pie was originally invented as a means of using leftover Roast meat (called Cottage pie if Beef was used).
Nowadays most people use mince but I am going 'Old school' with this recipe.
In this recipe you can pretty much use whatever Veg you like- so use your faves! I just used what I had in the fridge but there is no hard & fast rule here.
I also added a 'twist' to the Mashed Potato topping.
Lamb & Fetta are such a lovely marriage of flavours so I experimented with adding some soft crumbled Fetta to the Mash to see how that would go.
This is Rustic cuisine. Play around with what you like best.
It tasted AMAZING!
Taking risks in the kitchen doesn't always pay off- luckily this time it did and I will definitely be doing it again!
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

  • 500g Leftover Lamb, diced fine
  • 2 onions, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
  • 1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped fine
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 200g Tuscan Kale, chopped 
  • 100g peas
  • 1/2 can Organic Tomatoes
  • a splash of Worcester sauce
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • S & P
  • 5 Dutch cream or Desiree Spuds
  • 2 tablespoons Butter
  • 1/4 cup milk (or maybe less!)
  • 60g soft crumbled Fetta
  • EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Preheat oven to 200C.
Heat a pan with boiling water and cook Potatoes while you make the lamb mix.

In a heavy pan saute onion in a little EVOO till translucent.
Add garlic and fry for a minute.
Add the diced Lamb.

Stir through.
Add chopped Parsley, carrot, Kale & peas. 
Cook for about 5 minutes stirring.
Add the Worcester sauce and S&P.

Cook for 10 minutes.
Dust the flour over the top and then stir through- cook while stirring for about a minute to cook the flour. The mixture will seem quite dry.
Add the 1/2 can tomatoes & the beef stock and stir through.
Cook gently for about 5 minutes till the mix has thickened.

Remove from heat & set aside.

Once potatoes are cooked, drain and add butter & Fetta and MASH!!
You want the mash to be relatively thick as this will top the pie.
Add only as much milk is necessary to have a good thick mash.

Now add your Lamb mix into a shallow pie dish.

Even it out and add the Mash on top. Again- ou don't want this to look perfect. It should look like good home cooking with all it's imperfections! 

Pop into oven for 20 minutes or until the top is looking deliciously brown.

Serve on own or with a crispy Green salad.

YUM!!!!!!
We were listening to this old track from First Aid Kit earlier today. So gorgeous.

9 comments:

  1. It was only well into my adult life that I realised people considered making a Shepherds Pie without a roast lamb. Growing up on a sheep farm roast lamb was a rather common dinner and then followed by pie night. with the food processor given a very good run to grate up any veggies that were in the fridge too.

    But I doubt Feta ever mades it way into the house.I will try that next time.

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  2. Yummers! We are a bit starved for to-the-door deliveries up here... Melbs is a bit forward-thinking in that way!

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    Replies
    1. And by the way, I LOVE First Aid Kit... was listening to their first album and it was a lot more electronic and less folksy. I love them both ways!
      And PPS, that Citroen Deus is aMAZing... I worked for two lady architects who drove a lovely silver one with red leather upholstery... Going to client meetings was a JOY!

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  3. wow, its made me hungry looking at that and i don't have any lamb, let alone left over lamb!! anna.. your lamb farmer!

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  4. What's that knife? It's not one of John's knives is it? !!

    I love making shepherds pie using left over roast lamb (what else are you going to do it with?) My grandmother always made it and would put the meat through one of those meat grinders screwed to the table. I always think of her whenever I make it. Special. xx

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  5. I always feel very good if I use up all my leftovers for lunches or new meals. I now have a compost bin so if the veg go manky in the fridge then into the compost they go! It helps ease my guilt for wasting food....

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  6. Gourmet Girlfriend I love your recipes! This week I made your chilli jam, your wanton soup, your croissant and butter pudding and your caesar salad (and homemade mayo) twice. Thankyou!

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  7. Excellent Ruth! As sheep farmers we tend to often have lamb leftovers, I also make shepherds pie this way. The feta is a great idea and one I am going to try!

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  8. I'm making this tonight!! Thanks Ruth! xo

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